Development banks to finance 337MW PV portfolio in Mexico

The financing is for a total of US$294 million. Image: Inauguracion de la Republica Mexicana / Flickr

A 337MW PV portfolio in Mexico have reached financial close, according to Mexico’s Secretariat of Energy (SENER).

The portfolio, comprised of a pair of solar plants (Orejana and Santa María) built in Sonora and Chihuahua, were awarded in the country's second electronic auction back in 2016.

The financing, provided by Mexico’s development bank (Banca de desarrollo), Banobras, Nafin and the North American Development Bank, is for a total of US$294 million.

The Orejana solar park, in Hermosillo, Sonora, will have an investment of US$139 million and features a generation capacity of 158MW. Once in operation by mid-2019, the park will be comprised of 87,440 solar panels to produce 353GWh of clean energy. The completed project will provide power to 169,000 homes.

The Santa María solar park, with a total capacity of 179MW, will be built in Galeana, Chihuahua, with a financing of US$155 million. The project is expected to be operational by mid-2019 and will feature 550,080 solar panels.